Fatal Frame: Five Senses
by SunsetTerraceAndLostLove
Summary: What happens when three people get mixed up in a village that was abandoned after a deadly ritual? Chapter Four deals with a woman trying to locate her lost husband
1. Prologue

**Chapter One**

Daylight barely broke through the limps of the tree as the car drove down the curving roads. At the drivers wheel was a man in his early thirties, though he looked more in his mid twenties. His hair was short and black, slicked back with some gel. His eyes were very attentive to the road before him, though the green color seemed to strike many as dazzling and stunning. On him was a denim jacket of a black shirt, matched with faded jeans.

In the passenger seat was a young girl, around sixteen or seventeen. Her hair was short, in a bob, and colored brown like the majestic trees of a forest. Her eyes were the same as his, a green that just seemed to captivate the attention of anyone to peer within them. Her outfit was a pink, wool jacket and a blue dress made of silk underneath.

The car took another curve before stopping at a light, which the man had almost not expected. He watched the cars going the opposite direction with frustration, wishing the light would change a bit faster.

"What were you thinking Sophia!?" The man said, trying to keep his cool now suddenly, as if driving was his only antidote to madness. "Sneaking out of the house in a god damn foreign country, and then going off to a party with kids you hardly know! God, could you have any other actions I'm unaware of?"

"You wish," The girl, Sophia, mumbled.

"What did you say to me!?"

"The lights green…"

The mans eyes averted back toward the light to see it had changed to he respected color of motion. He grumbled a bit and lightly pushed his foot on the gas, feeling the acceleration cool his mind. The motion helped him focus on something else that didn't boil his blood.

Sophia only sighed and looked out the passenger window once more, watching the forestry pass by without hesitation. She could only think of how wrong she was to leave the house last night, how terrible she was to leave behind her big brother and then even have the nerve to enter a party where no one knew her, drink alcohol, and almost do something she knew she'd later regret. This topped all the things she did since a few years ago.

"Look, I don't mean to be mad at you Sophia. It's just… you can't keep acting like this! You're a teenager now; you have to grow up. Mom isn't-"

"Save your breath Jacob, I know the speech well."

The man, Jacob, looked over at her sternly and then back at the road for another turn into a small dirt road in the forest. The less paved road proved to be rough and bumpy, but that didn't seem to faze either Jacob or Sophia.

"You know I just want the best for you, right?"

"Yeah, I do. You just want me to grow up and be a pretty little girl like all the other valley girls out there."

"Hey now, I never said anything about you becoming something you don't want to be."

"Then why are you sending me to a private university where it's just filled with a bunch of airheads and fashion divas?" Sophia glared at him. "And don't you dare say it's what's best for me because if it was then I wouldn't be complaining."

"You need a good education to get into the colleges here in Japan, they're not going to look at someone like us Americans the same way they would a Japanese from public school."

Sophia rolled her eyes and continued to look out the window at the forest some more. This was the first time her brother and her had taken this path because she had never been out this far, so Sophia didn't exactly know what it looked like. The whole place just intrigued her; back home she remembered how every tree was torn down just to make room for more urban developments, but she could see such beauty in the woods that Japan had offered her.

Suddenly she noticed someone standing on a broken path toward the trees. It was a woman, very tall and in a white kimono. Tying the kimono closed was a black cord that dangled down toward the ground. Her face was covered by some black hair that curved before her eyes. Her lips formed into a smile that seemed innocent enough to lure anyone toward her. She turned and started down the path, her hair tied back with a clip in the shape of a fiery red phoenix.

"Stop the car."

"What, in the middle of the road? We could get hit and-"

"JUST STOP IT!"

Jacob swerved to the side of the road and watched as Sophia jumped out of the car running toward the forest.

"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going now?"

He almost opened his car door but forced it shut as another vehicle came speeding past his. Jacob popped his door open with a lot of force then quickly shut it before looking around for his little sister. His eye caught her turning into the forest down some weird path.

'What the hell is she doing now?'

Jacob rushed toward the path and looked down to see only pitch black. Sophia could've been anywhere now and he knew it, which meant he had all the reason to go find her before she got herself into worse trouble than what he had planned for her. He headed back to the car and opened the passengers side, thumbing through the glove compartments until he found a mini flashlight and some extra batteries for it, which were stuffed in his pocket.

The light proved to show the path continued and winded down the forest trees. Jacob stepped carefully around the area, watching to make sure he didn't trip so he wouldn't be hurt. He didn't want to fall and have a concussion with no one around for help.

About five minutes down Jacob flashed the light around some odd red gate. He didn't really know much about them, the Shinto temples always seemed to have a ton of these around. He remembered something about them being a gate to somewhere or maybe even a doorway that couldn't be opened; he didn't care because legends tended to be false these days thanks to modern science.

"SOPHIA!"

Jacob stepped back the gate, and then he felt a large pressure come down onto him. He fell on his knees panting for some air as he felt everything around him shake intensely, and then suddenly halting. When looking up, Jacob could see that a night sky had blanketed the once evening sky he had been driving through. This wasn't good, had he really wasted so much time searching for Sophia?

"Hey, Sophia; this isn't funny at all! Once I get my hands on you, you'll wish you were still lost, you hear me!?"

He shined the light around the path as he got up and started more down it. Stone stepped seemed to be carved heading up a small hill. Torches were lit up on the sides to light the way, but didn't do as well of a job as Jacob's own flashlight. At the top, he could see Sophia, staring away from him and swaying in an odd fashion.

"I was calling for you back there Sophia! What has come over you!?"

Jacob looked at her and watched as she continued to sway, not making any response toward him at all.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

He rushed up the steps toward Sophia and before he could grab her, his eye sight changed. Everything seemed to be fuzzy like TV static, and only showed the colors white and black. Where Sophia once was a woman in a white kimono, a black cord tied to hold it closed. Holding her hair up was some weird clip with a fiery red phoenix that Jacob found rather tacky with her kimono. Her face turned toward Jacob.

"Hey, where is that girl that was just standing there?"

The woman turned completely toward him, elegantly more than hastily. Her lips formed a devilish smile as her hand pointed toward where she had been looking previously.

Jacob took a few steps toward her now and felt the same pressure from before when he passed the gate, taking the breath right out of him. He looked up to now see she was standing over him, the same devilish smirk plastered across her face. She bent down, and Jacob winced away.

Then suddenly everything was color again, and Sophia was touching his back as he lay on the ground. Her face was filled with much confusion, unable to understand why her brother was suddenly on the ground and not on his own two feet.

"Jacob… are you alright?"

He looked up at her, his eyes seemed to be a little frightened but at the same time as confused as she was.

"Where did… the lady in the kimono go?"

"She went this way, there's some weird village over here. I think she is all alone over there because I haven't seen anyone else around here."

"Is this why you had me stop my car then?"

Jacob stood himself and dusted off his shirt with a soft sigh. He looked at her with some regret, wishing he hasn't stopped for her petty curiosity. He always knew curiosity killed the cat.

"Well sorry I wanted to do something right for once Jacob. Doesn't hurt to check if someone is alright, does it?"

"I guess not…"

Jacob stepped up the rest of the way with Sophia following at the same pace. At the top he could see over a ledge, and what a sight it was. There was some village, big houses all around and some large building in the middle; most likely a temple from its structure. Around the village were torches just like the ones he had seen leading up the stone stepped path.

"What is this place?" Jacob asked looking around.

"This is the Go **Ishiki Village," Sophia told him. "It's been lost for a few hundred years now brother."**

**He looked at her oddly. "How did you know that Sophia?"**

**She bowed her head. "Honestly, I don't know…"**


	2. Into The Go Ishiki Village

**Chapter 2**

The two had started down a path toward the village, Jacob taking the lead with his light and Sophia following close behind. It was all dirt from here on out and they knew that there was probably no one but the woman down there. It was the abandoned village after all with only one survivor.

The man who survived was well known around the area of Japan. His name was Itatski Kitsune; he was the villages head priest. When they found him though he was curled in a ball calling out the name of his sister, Sasaki Kitsune. A few months after that he had come out of a rehabilitation center but now wouldn't say, mumble, or even whisper a word to anyone who asked what happed in the Go **Ishiki Village. He was eventually found hung in his apartment near downtown Tokyo.**

**"Sophia, you can't run off like that again. I keep telling you not to do these stupid things but you just keep messing up, don't you?"**

**"Is that any way to talk to the sister you almost lost?"**

**"She isn't lost anymore, now is she? Any other snappy comebacks you got for me?"**

**Sophia folded her arms, rolled her eyes, and blew a strand of hair out of her sight. "You know, you could treat me like an adult once in awhile. For gods sake I'm sixteen, two years from the big one eight. You can't keep treating me like a child."**

**"I can as long as the government says you are, and if they keep telling me your underage then that means I got to keep treating you like a kid."**

**"Sometimes I wonder why I love you."**

**"Sometimes I wonder how we're even related."**

**They reached the bottom on the hill to see a crossroad. There were paths left and right of them leading around a square that formed around the shrine. The path to the actual shrine was blocked; a large mote was built around it. **

**Jacob looked back to see Sophia standing at a doorway, swaying oddly once more. Her eyes seemed glazed, and she even looked misplaced as if she were not even there.**

**"Hey, you alright there Sophie?"**

**She looked at him with those glazed eyes, and then bowed her head once more. "I heard something in there…"**

**Jacob looked in the windows to see some candles lit, but the furniture inside seemed to be in shambles from what could be seen.**

**"Alright then, let's get in there and see if it's the lady from before."**

**"Yeah…"**

**Jacob slid the door open and looked inside to see a small entrance hall. Cloth sheets with designs of a burning phoenix hung up. Every so odd step would be a table with shattered glass and shriveled up flowers lying around. At the end hanging beside a door were two scrolls, one decorated with a black dragon and the other with the phoenix once again.**

**"Jacob… it's really cold in here for some reason."**

**Jacob tuned back toward her as they reached the end of the hall. His head tilted; confused at her for feeling chilled when he was perfectly warm with all the torch and candle light around him.**

"I hope you don't have a cold Sophia, were any of the people at the party sick or something?"

"No, not at all. I guess I'm just a little frightened is all."

"Yes, I suppose that would explain your sudden chill. Best go with that since we don't need you sick right now."

The door was opened slowly to reveal a small sitting area with wooden flooring. Between the small pillows that people sat upon was a round table with the design of the black dragon. Straight ahead of the two was a hallway, and to their far left was a staircase leading up. From there they could see a balcony overlooking the sitting area with three doors, two of which had designs. The one on the left had the design of the black dragon, and the one on the right had the red phoenix.

"This place hasn't been used in ages…" Jacob shined the light around, spotting broken floor boards and torn cloth all across the rood. "It's like something really weird happened and everyone just… destroyed the place."

"It's so cold…"

"Sophia? Hey Sophia, are you alright?"

Her eyes were lost in space even worse now. Her breath seemed to come out in wheezes, and Jacob could oddly see it come from her mouth now like he did outside during the winter. The only thing was that it was really hot, and in the late summer.

Jacob placed his hand onto Sophia's shoulder, and that changed his vision immediately. It was inside the house and the girl with the kimono was inside, standing near the door with a man. His hair was much longer than hers, spreading down to just above the knee. It was black like the nights sky, and shined radiantly like the moons light. His delicate hands gripped hers, and they both looked at each other with weak smiles. He muttered to her, "Are you finally ready Sasaki?"

His hand moved away from Sophia's and Jacob could see fine once again. He was panting, suddenly tired from God knew and his sister actually seemed to have warmed up a bit.

"We're getting the hell out of here."

"What? We can't just leave without the woman! She's all alone here, she could be in trouble!"

"You're cold, this place freaks me out, hell if she wanted to be here than let her. I'm sure she can find her own damn way out if she found the street!"

Jacob went to the door and jiggled the handle a bit. Oddly enough, the door was now locked when it was previously unlocked.

"Damn it! Open now!"

Jacob kicked at the door, and then fell back as he found the door was rather stable. Sophia helped him up then sighed to herself.

"Look, maybe there is… something that can break the door down in here."

"You're right," Jacob nodded slowly. "Let's look around, but stick together."

He looked down the hall in front of them and headed down it. Like before outside, they came to a crossroads. To the right Jacob found a locked door, and to the left was a staircase, which he wanted to avoid using until they searched the whole bottom floor. Ahead of them was a hall that turned to the left and eventually led to a door.

It opened out instead of sliding, like the other doors, into a small family room. The middle had a fire pit with ash from previous wood. Around the room were pictures of the man and some woman with her face cut out.

"Who would do that to these pictures?"

Jacob looked at Sophia as she muttered the sentences, picking up some of the fallen pictures and looking them over. He was more interested in finding something that would help the two get out. All he could find were broken bits of wood and more shattered glass all over the floor. Near the back, though, he found something on the floor that wouldn't help him break the door, but it interested him; an old time camera.

To him, this camera was a part of something he enjoyed; antiques. Now Jacob himself did enjoy old things that were no longer of his era, but at the same time he was no old lady who went ballistic from finding a quilt sown in the middle ages; he was a man who like things of brilliance, things that showed class from the early ages.

"What is it Jacob?"

He turned to see Sophia behind him looking oddly at the camera. He smiled at her, "It's an old camera I found on the floor. Cool eh?"

The camera itself was beautiful to look at, its appeal marvelous to the intellectual mind Jacob had. The lens popped out a few inches, and could be pushed in and closed with a lid made of the same silver metal the camera was made of. Around the silver was attached some brown leather for design purpose. On the back on the camera was a large frame, almost like the digital cameras of today, which could see the images that the lens was pointed at.

"It's odd… kind of like you brother." Sophia giggled a little and flushed red.

"I'm odd now eh? I thought earlier I was just an inconsiderate asshole who knew not what a girl needed when I had to pull you off that man you were making out with."

"Oh shut up about that already, will you?"

Jacob laughed a little and held the camera up high with a smile. He noticed some Japanese symbols that circled around the lens. By the area where the camera was a notebook and a bit of paper clipped together. Jacob picked up the notebook first and began reading aloud so Sophia knew what it said also.

"Instructions to the Camera Obscura:

Thank you on your current interest on the Camera Obscura, an ancient device that's been in use for over a few centuries. The camera is certainly a trademark with the Japanese culture as some people around the area believe that cameras truly do have power. Well maybe not all of them do, but this one sure does!"

Jacob looked at Sophia confused. He felt like how as reading for one of those infomercials that come on TV and bore you to death, forcing you to buy the product in the vain hope that the person will shut up.

"The Camera Obscura itself has two features. One is that it can see what is unseen to the naked eye; it can see ghosts! Not only can you see spirits through the frame, but you can also take pictures of the dead too, and capture them on your film!

The second feature is that almost any type of film can be used for this camera; the better the film, the better the picture will come out. Be sure to stock up on different type of these films as we are sure you'll run dry soon since you can now take pictures of what others can not see!"

Jacob frowned at how cheesy this instruction manual was, and even laughed in his head that this thing didn't instruct him to do one thing. All it did was tell him some corny things that he could do with it. Take pictures of ghosts; what a joke! How could he take a picture of something that didn't exist?

"I think it's really stupid but hey it looks cool, so why not keep it?"

Sophia just shook her head and rolled her eyes once more. Her brother was ridiculous and not open minded to the fact that maybe the camera could be fun.

"Where is Sasaki…"

The two looked at each other and then at the door. The voice had come from outside in the hall and the two knew they hadn't seen anyone out there.

"Maybe it's a ghost!"

"Be logical now Sophia, it's just got to be the woman since no one else is here but her."

"What? You scared that the ghost might eat you!"

Jacob gave her a glare. "Ghosts don't eat people, they haunt them! Besides, why would a ghost stay in a dump like this?"

'Maybe to get away from you,' Sophia thought with a small giggle.

Jacob turned back to the papers in the clip now while Sophia went to search for the source of the voice. They were hand written in pen, not typed up like the notebook he had found. They appeared to be notes from someone who had been investigating the area before him and his sister got here.

"June 28th

Karina, Josh, and I just arrived here and the place is so fucking creepy. I know Josh said this seemed like a hot spot for spirits, and we were desperate to find some since our job needed to launch with a bang, but this place is just creepy as hell.

Even worse now is the night sky won't go away and we keep hearing people around here, but no one is even fucking moving around! Worse than that, there's no food for us to eat and I'm starving from the last time we ate. I feel like this is going to take forever.

June 29th?

My watch says a day passed but I honestly couldn't tell you. It's so fucking cold in these houses; have to know who turned on the damn AC unit if this place even has one. Something just really isn't right and I know it.

I also got separated from Josh and Karina. Who knows where those two ended up without me, always leaving me behind so they can get the better catches. I wish I could find a ghost already and get out of here.

June 30th

SO FUCKING SCARED! There's some woman in this house that I am locked in, always walking around in some grey rag and bad white hair, she keeps calling out for someone named Sasaki but I have no clue who that is! Dude, she really freaks me out!

Also the rooms upstairs are locked like the front door, except for the middle one with no design. It's some bedroom with a bookshelf and stuff, but the EMF was going insane in there.

May 1st

She's a ghost, I know it. That lady is always cold when she's nearby, and I feel terrified every time she gets closer and closer to this room. I don't know how much longer I can stay like this, trapped in a room with no food, no people, nothing but myself… I think I'm losing my mind…"

Jacob dropped the notes without hesitation, watching dust fly up as they hit the ground. Today was May first, and that was the last thing the man had written in there. Where he was, and where were these other people he was supposedly with?

The door behind Jacob slid open, and when he turned he saw Sophia standing there. "There was some lady; she went into a room upstairs."

"Did you see a man with him?"

"What?"

"Answer the question Sophia: did you see a man with her?"

"No… just her…"

Jacob thought on this for a long time. They were like the guy, trapped in the house with some woman walking around giving them the chills. Then again, the door was unlocked when Sophia and him got there, which probably meant that the lady opened the door for him and let him out knowing it was an accident. Yeah, that had to be it!

"We need to find that woman, trust me on this. I'm sure she'll let us out of here."

Sophia nodded and followed him out, then up the stairs to the three doors. Like the man in the notes mentioned, Jacob found the two decorated doors locked but the middle door open. Inside was a small hallway that opened into a medium sized bedroom. The walls to the left and right were blocked by shelves with many books lined on them. Between these was a bed that laid low to the floor, and two candle rods beside it with lit candles and dripping wax.

Centered near the end of the bed was a leather bound book that Sophia walked toward. She stopped at it and looked around the empty room. "I swore I saw her go in here Jacob! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"It's fine, I believe you ok? We just… we have to find her!"

Jacob's eyes trailed across the room and then back to Sophia who was bent down near the book. He could feel a chill suddenly, as if the whole room had grown thirty degrees cooler. Then he noticed a woman standing over Sophia, her hand rested on his sister's shoulder.

"Sophia… look at me…"

She shuddered for a second, and her gaze slowly turned toward Jacob. When she finally saw the old woman she screamed in terror, jumping through the hand, as though it were transparent, and then onto the bed backing away.

"Get her the fuck away from me!"

"Sophia, calm down! She's nothing to be afraid of!"

"Shut the hell up Jacob, I went through her hand. She's a god damn ghost!"

The old woman turned to Jacob, showing pale white eyes and long, frizzy white hair. Her mouth opened slowly, though it didn't look like she was even breathing out.

"Where… is… Sasaki…"

Jacob backed up slightly as the woman glided toward him, her feet not even touching the ground. He knew it even more than ever, she was a ghost and the man from the letters before had to of known this like he did. Was he dead, or was he alive?

"Jacob, the camera!" Sophia pointed to the Camera Obscura in his hands. "Take a picture of her, the camera says it can capture them on the photograph, maybe it meant literally capture them!"

He looked it over and sighed; what other alternative did Jacob have to dealing with a force he had mistakenly called false? He held up the Camera and focused on the frame, watching as the woman came at him slowly. Suddenly she jumped up and came down toward him, which was the moment Jacob had taken the picture.

The old woman shrieked and was forced back through the air and then onto the floor, small orbs of blue light flying into the camera. He looked it over trying to figure out how it could do such a thing, that he didn't realize the old woman ghost coming up from behind him, grabbing him by the shoulders. His vision changed to black and white static once more. There he could see a man lying on the bed, his hair in curls and his figure frail as the woman ghost bent above him and choked him eventually to death.

"GET OFF OF HIM!"

Sophia snatched the camera from Jacob quickly and snapped a shot of the woman, causing her to wail and let go of Jacob. She eventually dissipated, and Jacob began falling toward the ground. His sight began to leave him, darkness consuming all he could see now.

'This is all a dream… it's nothing more than a dream… Sophia leaving, the camera, the woman… none of this is real…'

Jacob hit the ground with a thud, and his eye lids clamped shut. He could hear only his sisters panicked footsteps before he fell completely out of consciousness.


	3. Dyfuntional Ucara's

**Chapter Three**

It was dark once more when her eyes fluttered open, the room was even the same as she had remembered; rectangular with four candle rods in each corner, a door in front of her, and an alter behind her. She turned to look at the alter once more to see two small candles lit upon it, with a picture of some man with really long black hair.

"This is so stupid! Nothing has changed in four days and Josh won't let us leave… like that matters anyway, can't find him or Daniel."

The woman walked over now to the alter where she had left her flashlight for a nights rest. She shined it around to see rose petals all around the picture and the floor, which was probably a sign of romantic obsession for the man in the photograph.

"Maybe I should go find Josh and Daniel. I'm ready to get out of this shit hole."

She turned toward the door and took a few steps forward. Something was different about the room suddenly; very cold and the atmosphere was suddenly heavy for no real reason. The woman ignored this and touched the doors handle, sliding it open for exit.

"Why don't you love me Itatski?"

The woman turned herself and aimed the flashlight at the alter. Now, kneeling before this shrine, was a woman that looked very transparent. She had on a grey kimono it seemed with a blue cord tied around it. Her hair was put up in a pin of a white rabbit design. On the back of the robe was the same rabbit but it was also intertwined with a black dragon.

At first, the woman with the flashlight couldn't believe what she was now witnessing; there was a woman in the room she had just been in, which had but one entrance, and she knew she hadn't seen the woman pass her in. It was astounding; there were actually ghosts in this place like Josh had promised her.

'Come on Karina, get a hold of yourself. It's just a ghost and you've been looking for these things for four days now! Just take a picture, show it to Josh, and then we can finally leave and get some sushi!'

The woman, Karina, fumbled around in her pocket trying to get a good grasp on the camera, then pulled it out holding it still with a firm grip. The Polaroid camera held steady in the shot, keeping the frame on this spirit. A quick sound was made to signify she had taken the picture. As soon as that happened, however, the ghost had vanished from the alter.

"Fuck me!"

Karina threw the Polaroid camera at the wall, watching it literally break into many pieces. She had never been so pissed in her life with this stupid job Josh had put her under. She was cold and hungry proving to her state of mind that all of this nonsense was pointless and nothing was stopping her from leaving.

"I'm coming… Itatski…"

Karina turned quick to watch the woman appear behind her and go down the hall. She slowly shuffled her feet away from Karina and then eventually dissipated into a door at the end. Karina followed the movement to the door where she later found it was locked, a crest of some blue cat carved upon the knob.

She turned and thought about the door. Maybe there was a key with the same crest upon it which would unlock the door, like it did in those ridiculous video games.

Near the shrine room door, the hall veered to the right with two means of exit. One was an opening on Karina's right which most likely leaded to the foyer that she entered near, and the other was a sliding door. She knew her best bet was with the sliding door (Since just going outside wouldn't be the best place to look for a key) and slid it open.

This was a library, full of old books and manuscripts of Japanese symbols all over the walls. Bookcases basically formed a maze around the library with the way they were placed. Karina wasted no time going in and looking around at all the books, trying to see if maybe the key was hidden somewhere within the shelves. She was only able to find useless and boring books throughout the maze.

About halfway, or at least Karina wanted it to be, she heard some laughter from behind. Karina turned around with her flashlight to find a girl standing near her. The girl had on a red kimono tied by a blue cord. All over the kimono were blue cat designs.

"Another ghost, huh? Wish I had my damn camera now."

The girl smiled as Karina spoke, and held out her hand. She looked like a little sister now, wanting to hold the hand of their older sibling as they crosses the "oh so dangerous" street.

"Heh, stupid little kid."

Karina turned herself, but as she did the girls cold, ghostly hand grabbed hers. Everything changed as Karina could see only fuzzy static and the book cases around her. She looked around hesitantly and saw the girl from before running toward her, then through her and further into the maze of bookshelves. Karina stood there puzzled, and then turned. She almost screamed from seeing this, as now there was a weird ghost floating slowly toward her. The ghost was female, her face covered by black hair that curved over it. On her was a white kimono kept closed by a red cord. Around her was some kind of aura looking much like a fire with despaired people trying to escape from it.

Karina started to back away feeling a lot of pressure suddenly push down on her with the appearance of this new ghost. It was as if a grand piano was slowly being forced onto her back as the ghost approached closer and closer.

"What the… hell is this?"

Her foot slipped, and Karina was now lying on her back. The pressure was now all over her body with the ghost practically two foot steps away. She looked up to see the ghost above her now, and widened her eyes as the ghost gripped her by the wrists.

"Suffer… like… me…"

Karina screamed and flailed along the floor as she could feel her skin burn. It felt like everything on her was in agony all at once, screaming to her mind to let the pain just stop and end now. And soon enough it did end, everything went back to normal, minus the girl now, and Karina could no longer feel pain. She could, however, barely taste anything for some reason. It was worse before when the woman touched her, and slowly regaining, but that sense of taste somehow vanished for a few seconds and gradually returned.

As soon as she could fully taste the saliva in her mouth, which she oddly craved now more than ever, Karina went down to the end of the maze where there was another door. She slid it open to find a dead end room, but it was a bed room of all things. The inside had a raised bed, which was not common to Japan to Karina's knowledge, a dresser, and little blue stuffed kittens hanging from the ceiling by what seemed to be plastic wire.

Karina walked up to the dresser first to find a small journal lying on it. She opened it up and began reading the pages within.

"Dear Diary

Sister doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to me lately, always staring at the Kitsune family and sighing to herself, wishing it were us and not them. I'm glad it wasn't us diary, otherwise me and big sister Amano wouldn't be able to hang out as much as we do. Itatski and Sasaki are really trying to spend a lot of time together too, but like I care because I'll always have Amano and you diary!

Naomi Ucara"

Karina flipped to the next page where there had been many between but were all basically torn out. It puzzled her why anyone would tear out pages from a diary; maybe the little girl was trying to hide her thoughts more discreetly from people like her big sister.

Beside where the diary had resided was a camera, looking very old fashioned and rusty. Karina immediately picked it up and checked it over with a smile full of glee.

"Yes! A new camera to get the damn photo with now! Let's see, how do you work this thing…"

The back opened up, startling Karina slightly but then turned back to joy as she found that this was where the film was meant to go and there was some already place inside. On the bottom was a piece of paper taped to it, labeling this camera as the "Camera Obscura".

"Kids, same as ever coming up with weird names for shit as simple as a god damn camera."

Karina laughed to herself a bit, then turned toward the door. As she was a small distance from it the door slammed shut then locked. Karina backed away a bit then heard some small giggling behind her. With a twirl Karina could see the girl from before, same kimono with kittens and cord tying it together, standing at the foot of the tall bed, eyes wide with a devilish childish grin.

"Let's play Amano…"

Karina shrieked out into the room, running toward the door and trying to force it open with little results. She soon resulted to kicking, punching, even body slamming into the door as the girl ghost just watched with the same grin, never changing.

"What do I do… what do I do…"

Karina leaned back on the door, and then fell onto her bottom watching the girl looking at her. The girl then started to move, seeing her prey was now weak and unable to fight back.

"God, is it really over? Let's just take a picture…" Karina looked down at the camera, and then held it up to view the girl coming at her slowly. "Maybe Josh will come in and I'll have that picture for him… just maybe then…"

The camera made the snapping sound that it would make when capturing a shot, but what wasn't expected to the ghost hunter was the girl screamed out in pain as her picture was taken, forcing her backward to cover her face and bits of blue orbs flying into the camera. Karina quickly stood, suddenly feeling adrenaline in her veins now that she found a way to hurt the ghost.

"Bring it bitch! I'll show you what I've got!"

Karina watched as the girl suddenly vanished, quite a trait that ghosts seemed to have. She spun around looking for her, then eventually found her running out from a wall toward Karina. She hit the capture button once more and received the same result as last, the girl was pushed back, covered her face, and blue orbs flew into the camera. Now that the girl was vulnerable, Karina took another photo. This made the girl spirit wail out more than she had ever before, and forced her down to the floor where she eventually dissipated.

What the girl once was a key that had a small tag on it. The tag was in the shape of a blue cat, much like on the knob of the locked door she had previously visited. Karina picked the key up then found that the door to this room easily slid open now that the ghost was gone.

Back in the maze of shelves, Karina started down until everything went back to the TV static look once again. She turned her head to look back, only to see the same girl from before, levitating her way toward Karina once more with the same agonized red aura from before. Instantly Karina put u the camera and took a picture, but found her efforts were useless with this ghost. Maybe it was just too powerful for the camera to handle? Who cared now, she had to run for her life!

She turned her head back to the maze and began running, tracing her steps back to where she had come into the library. All the while she could hear so many screams and agonized yells echo through the room as the woman floated lightly toward her. Karina soon made it out of the maze and barely caught her footing after tripping on a loose floorboard. After reaching the door, she placed her hand on the handle and looked backward to see the girl coming out from the maze. She twisted the knob and exited without any further delay.

Back in the hall, the TV white fuzz vanished and everything looked normal once again. A sigh of relief escaped Karina as she parted her lips, panting a bit from the excessive running she had just done.

'That ghost, it's definitely different than the others; looks like I'll have to avoid that one at all costs.'

At the locked door now, Karina used the key and smiled when the clicking sound came. She pulled out the key and pushed the door open into a new room. Across the ceiling were rose petals that had string connecting them together and up near the ceiling. Across the floor there were even more petals, these most likely of a cherry blossom. Near her was a small cushion chair with a vanity mirror, and across was about two dressers. Near the far right was another door.

Karina went to the vanity mirror first finding two ripped pages on the table. She checked it with the writing from the previous journal and found it matched perfectly. With this, she picked up both pages and began reading:

"Dear Diary

It's me, Naomi again. Sister did some forbidden things that the elders would not be happy about, but Naomi sticks up for her big sister so she won't say anything to anyone. Last night she had snuck off to the Kitsune house and talked with Itatski about Sasaki and the ritual that is soon to come. She was trying to get him to stop it all, telling him about the nightmares she told me and father about. He thought she was right on this, and I'll agree because she is my sister. Father, however, feels that if she over steps her boundary again that he may do something bad. I'm scared Diary."

"Dear Diary

Daddy is furious, he read my journal while I wasn't in my room and now he knows what Amano did! He's not happy one bit, always in his room thinking more than normal and sister doesn't even know that he knows! Mother is scared too, she's told me to go and stay in my room tonight and not to come out until she comes to get me. I hope Father doesn't plan anything drastic…"

Karina put down the pages and looked around the room. She felt uneasy, like something was watching her now that she had read the papers. Turning to the door she had entered the vision changed into what looked like sepia now. There she could see the girl with the white rabbit on her Kimono run in, and then be followed by some man. He was much taller than her, but not too much muscle on him. His hair was cut short, black, and held up with a white band. He also wore grey robes, and in his hands was a bloodied knife.

The girl eventually ran through the other door, screaming her vocals as loud as she could, while the man followed pursuit yelling loudly in Japanese while wailing the knife in the air. The vision went back to color and Karina could see the man now walking slowly in through the door she had entered, bloodied knife in his hands.

"Amano… must pay for… what you've done…"

Karina smirked and held up the Camera Obscura. "I don't know who this Amano girl is, but I'm not fucking dying here."

The man began to slowly step toward her, loud yelling of Japanese seemed to become more apparent as he got closer to Karina. Once he was a few inches away he raised his knife in the air and yelled out die. Karina took a quick picture at the moment and watched him grunt and lower the knife, not even flinching from the camera shot like the other ghosts. She knew, however, that it had the same effect as the blue orbs flew at the camera.

Karina turned around and was barely swiped by the blade. She winced in pain and looked herself over for a cut wound where the knife had cut, but there were no marks left on her. She wondered how, then, that knife that was a part of the spirit had hurt her without any means of physical abnormalities.

While thinking, Karina was almost hit again by the knife. She had, however, barely caught sight of it and spun out of the way. This was a bad idea, however, as Karina fell back first onto the ground and the camera slipped from her hands. She began to reach for the camera as she felt the ghost man tower over her now.

"You must pay Amano…"

Karina was starting to feel dizzy and sleepy suddenly, but she wasn't going to let that be the cause of her death. Get gripped the side of the Camera Obscura as fast as she could then aimed it up at the ghost.

"Well then, let this be payment for you."

Karina snapped the shot and the man cried out in agony, falling to the floor, curling up, and then dissipating. She smiled and felt the camera slightly leave her hands as she laid there.

"Well… I hope it's just… all a dream…" With those words, she passed out.


	4. Looking for What is Lost

**Chapter 4**

The bus stopped quick on the small country side road, almost knocking the woman out of her seat from the sudden end of motion. Her hands touched the back of the empty seat in front of her, and her shy eyes looked up toward the angry eyes of the bus driver.

"This is the stop, is it not?" the Japanese driver asked with a rude tone.

"Ye-yes… thank you…" She bowed her head and stepped out of the bus lightly, then turned to watch it drive off.

The woman turned back away from the road to look at a small path that veered off into the forest. Her face kept a small frown as the wind blew by, trees releasing leaves into the wind that flowed down the path, almost beckoning her. She pulled out a photograph from her purse now, which hung from her shoulder, and looked at the image portrayed upon it. There was a man standing near the path, looking down it as if he had seen something. His hair was at least two to three inches long, and combed to each side with a reddish tint.

'I'm coming Roger… I won't let you down…'

She walked slowly into the path, looking around cautiously at everything around her. It was dark, which was the only thing she could notice about the forest. Suddenly, with the lack of sight, she tripped over some rock steps. She groaned in pain, and then looked up to see the man with red hair standing there, looking at her.

"Roger… God please be Roger…"

The girl started to stand herself when she noticed the man walk farther into the shadowed area. Her frown stayed with the thought that it was all a mirage, a figment of her whole imagination, just like the day she thought he had returned home. No, all of it was fake, ever since the day they gave up on the search for him.

Her eyes looked down on the floor where he, or at least the image of him, had stood to see a small flashlight sitting on the stone steps. She picked it up to look at the path more clearly. There were stone steps, ascending up a hill to and overlook. At the overlook, she could look down upon a village which was lit barely by torches set around the paths.

She turned toward the path, where she caught sight of a small envelope on the ground with her flashlight. The woman instantly ran toward it and crouched down to her knees. On the front was her name, Kerry Greenough. She, Kerry, quickly opened the seal and pulled out the letter from within.

"To My Dearest Wife

Drew and I found a forest path off the side road, and suddenly we can't leave the village. Every time we head toward the path that led us here we find out that there is some curse that leads us back here. Neither of us are frightened though, so if you find this letter do not worry for me; I'm sure I will be out of here soon with you in my arms since you most likely came to search for me.

I believe we are going to be heading into the house with the brown dog painting; all the other homes seem to be locked and empty. If you come here, which is most likely, try to meet us there. I'm sure we'll be out with you in no time.

Your Dearest,

Roger Greenough"

Kerry folded the letter after reading it at least three times, then inserted it back into the envelope. A weight was lifted off her with the knowledge that he was here, safe and sound, and nothing was hurting him. Maybe that was him before on the path, looking at her, and going back to the house to wait for her knowing she'd find the letter. He always played games like that.

"Don't worry Roger, I'm coming for you."

She turned down the road and went into the village. It was empty, and the wind around her was cold. The houses, like Roger had mentioned in the letter, were vey empty and dark to Kerry.

Curving right around the mote surrounding the shrine, Kerry looked up to see Roger off in the distance. He opened a door to the house he had described, went inside, and closed it without looking back. She found it strange that he didn't look back for her knowing she was on her way.

She headed toward the door when a gust of wind blue by. It was powerful; strong enough to make her wrap her arms around her head and blow out a hair tie that held up her shoulder length brown hair. When the gust stopped, Kerry freed her head to see everything around her changed. There was a bunch of white static around her, almost like a TV screen when you roamed on a channel that didn't work properly. People were running, black and white, screaming their minds out as if the end were upon them.

Out from the shrine came something even more abnormal. It was a woman lightly floating over the ground, her hair was back in a red (Somehow not black and white like everything else) phoenix hair pin, in a white kimono tied with a red cord. Around her was a terrible aura, a blood red color with what looked like disfigured imprints of faces and arms trying to force their way out. Every time she would touch one of the people, Karina noticed, they would begin screaming in agony. Blood poured from their mouths, ears, nose, eyes, and then right through the skin somehow.

"What… what is this!?"

The woman now turned to Kerry, and she smiled lightly before beginning to float toward her. She turned and began running away from the woman wondering what in the world was happening. As her hand touched the knob she looked back, the girl floating was getting rather close. Kerry pulled the door open with all her might, then slammed it shut when she got inside.

Everything turned back to normal, color vision and no people running away from some weird woman floating. Instead it was a normal living area, a round table with four cushions around it and a brown dog design painted on it. All around the wall were candles lit well for easier vision, though the flashlight Kerry had proved to help more visually. To the left was a locked door, and to the right was a stairwell to an overlooking balcony and another door across from it.

Kerry went through the door. This led into a small hallway that curved toward the right. As she went past the curve, she someone at the door. It was another male she recognized, his hair black and put back in a ponytail.

"Drew! Hey Drew!"

She watched him stop at the door, and then turn toward Kerry. His face was very plain, almost too plain for her liking. He turned back and opened the door before closing it behind him.

'It's almost like… Drew and Roger are ignoring me…'

Kerry followed him into the room which seemed empty now. It seemed like a storage room, very empty for Drew just walking inside. Boxes were stacked along the walls along with a bunch of scrolls scattered about the floor. On top of the scrolls, in the corner, was something Kerry noticed instantly.

There was a camera, something she knew Drew had interest in and Roger probably cared less about. It was very old fashioned; the lens came out and could be folded back in. The back had a frame much like a digital, which probably made taking pictures with this camera rather easy.

'Did Drew come in here for this?'

Kerry reached down to reach the camera and her vision changed. She wasn't there anymore, but Roger and Drew were in the room and everything was sepia. Drew was looking over the camera Kerry had found, while Roger was leaning on a wall.

"It's a nice camera," Drew stated, picking it up and looking it over. "Doubt it'd take as good pictures as mine though."

"Then why are we looking at it?" Roger asked nervously, folding his arms together. "We need to get moving before _she_ finds us."

Drew sighed. "If this curse is real, Roger, then she only has to get me one more time. You're just lucky she hasn't touched you yet. Every time she does it… it hurts so much…"

"Well the sooner we find a way out, the less likely you'll die like everyone else did here. Let's get going already."

Roger walked out the door by him, and Drew stood up, leaving the camera on the floor.

"The Camera Obscura, it's a classic. Too bad I can't carry it around."

Kerry snapped back into reality, pulling herself away from the camera with the sudden vision she had. Were those two being chased by the same woman she had seen outside? And what was this curse Drew mentioned?

"Roger… Drew… I hope you two are alright…"

Kerry picked up the camera feeling it might be nice to give to Drew when she found him. She found a way to open it up, seeing some film inside which helped if she wanted to take some pictures of things; like the weird woman so people knew that this whole story was real.

After finding the camera, Kerry proceeded out of the room and into the living room which seemed colder than before. She stepped further in, feeling something pulling her toward it. As she reached the table, her vision changed back into the sepia view again, she was missing but Roger and Drew were there again. Roger was gripping the locked door, while Drew was looking around the room.

Suddenly it changed to the white and black fuzz, and the floating woman appeared through the door. Drew started to back away, his breathing getting heavy as the woman floated in front of him, giggling lightly. She gripped his arm tight, and he began to shake violently. His mouth began to pour out blood, followed by his nose, ears, eyes, and then finally his skin began to shoot out jets of blood from the pores. His mouth let out a gargled scream as he fell to the floor, dead beyond belief.

Now Roger turned around, looking at the dead Drew and now at the woman floating toward him.

"You bitch!" He yelled out toward her. "You killed my best friend!"

She smiled, stopping before him and placing a finger at his mouth in a hushing manor. He was confused at first, but then Roger found himself gagging on something. Blood burst out from his mouth now and he grabbed his throat, falling to the floor unconscious.

"ROGER!" Kerry screamed out as her vision returned to normal.

Before her, at the locked door, was Drew on the floor. She began to pant nervously, watching him get up slowly. Kerry had backed into a wall while this was going on too, and nearly screamed once more when her back touched the wall behind her. Drew continued to get up until he was on his own feet, the digital camera in his hand shaking. Kerry shuddered every second from watching this and then finally shrieked when Drew turned his head, blood covering his face and his eyes as white as a dead mans.

"I didn't want to die…"

Drew stumbled toward her, his figure jolting in odd directions and his camera shooting off violent red flashes as he approached her. He stopped in front of her, the transparent being of Drew letting off cold breath onto Kerry as she shivered in fear from him.

"I didn't… didn't want to die…"

Kerry ran through him, somehow, and toward the door which she desperately tried to open. She turned her head to see him coming toward her slowly with his drunken stumble. In her hands, Kerry could feel something about the Camera Obscura, the one that Drew had left in the room. There must've been something special about it, why he knew about it in the first place. She began to run legends through her mind, and one oddly popped up; some people in the Japanese culture felt that camera's could capture their souls. It was ridiculous, but everything around her made no sense so what else did she have to lose?

"I don't mean to hurt you if I do Drew…"

The camera was aimed at Drew, and not too soon did she snap a shot of him before he hit her with his camera. Drew let out a gargled cry as he fell onto the ground, somehow the camera shot hurting him. Kerry let out a small sigh of relief feeling confident for knowing her Japanese myths, which seemed to be reality with this Camera Obscura.

Kerry watched as he vanished from his spot, and then reappeared about seven feet to the right. She aimed the camera once more, watching him get very close with his camera letting off the same red flashes as usual. When he came to attack her again, she snapped another shot forcing him onto his back again, but this time permanently dissipating.

On the ground, where Drew's ghost was, was a key. Kerry picked it up to see some insignia on it, a green songbird. She took it to the locked door and saw that it unlocked the door instantly, and opened into a strange room. It was a dead end, with a green light hung from the ceiling and at least fifteen bird cages scattered about.

"Even if Drew and Roger had escaped… it would've been a dead end…"

She walked in despite looking at the bird cage near the end of the room. It was the biggest, in the same shape as the shrine outside. In the bars, however, were two pieces of green paper. Kerry opened the cage up and read over the papers.

"Day One

I can't believe my job is to watch all these noisy ass birds while everyone else gets to do things around here. The only time I'm ever going to be free is when they use these songbirds for the ritual. That's in about five days, and I do not feel like waiting around while everyone worships over Sasaki. Hah, actually I'm glad I'm not her of all people, she doesn't even know what they have to do to her yet and it hurts.

Day Two

Oh this is too good of gossip, my brother Kura came in yelling his head off about what he had to do to Sasaki last night. It is his job as the Brown Dog after all; since I'm the Green Songbird I couldn't take his place. He said she screamed like a banshee, so much pain as they burned off every last bit of her taste buds from her tongue. God how I would've enjoyed that!"

Kerry dropped them in disgust. What was this about a girl being forced to have her taste buds burned off? Who could enjoy such sick pleasure like that!

The room changed then, a violent laugh broke through the silence as the white static covered the area around her once more. Kerry turned with the camera in hand to watch the door, where she saw the white kimono girl float through the door. She had on a wicked smile as she approached Kerry, hands outreached and horrid screams ejecting from the red aura.

She snapped a photo, and watched as nothing happened with this ghost. She was so much more than Drew; she was more powerful than him and probably any other spirits that might've been roaming around.

The woman smiled and gripped her arm. "Suffer like me…"

Kerry's eyes opened wide as her body felt like it was on fire. Her tongue burned like hell fire was lit in her mouth and not escaping with each desperate cry she let out. As spasmed in the woman's grasp, and fell, spasming, as the woman let her go. She sat there, her body jolting around as the burning subsided, and her sense of taste vanished as she fell out of consciousness.


End file.
